THE BBC was plunged into crisis last night after the humiliating destruction of its director general by one of his own star presenters.

John Humphrys’s relentless dissection of George Entwistle on Radio 4’s Today programme showed the director general was captaining a rudderless ship heading for the rocks. Under an aggressive cross-examination, he was once again shown to be hopelessly out of touch with events threatening Newsnight, the BBC’s flagship current affairs programme.

Pressure was mounting for him to resign last night after abuse victim Steven Messham told this newspaper that at no time throughout the Newsnight investigation was he shown a picture of Lord McAlpine, the former Tory party treasurer wrongly linked to a North Wales paedophile ring.

David Mellor, the former Cabinet minister with responsibility for the BBC, said of Entwistle: “He came across as so out of touch, it made me think Winnie the Pooh would have been more effective.

“Entwistle lacks credibility and he should go as soon as possible. I will be amazed if he is still there at the end of the week.”

When I saw a picture of Lord McAlpine for the first time on Friday, I was mortified

Steven Messham

Lord McAlpine was not named by Newsnight but the report whipped up an internet storm which revealed him as the man referred to. A source close to Jeremy Paxman, the ­programme’s star presenter, said he was “unhappy and depressed” by the increasingly damaging affair.

Entwistle made his position virtually untenable in yesterday morning’s interview when he admitted he was unaware Newsnight planned to broadcast the highly sensitive report about a top Tory and a paedophile ring . He did not watch the broadcast because he was “out” and no one had alerted him. Nor did he see a news­paper report on ­Friday which revealed the senior Tory referred to was the wrong man.

Humphrys accused him of an “astonishing lack of curiosity” but Entwistle insisted he would not resign. A cursory trawl through BBC websites should have alerted Newsnight journalists that their prime source for the allegations had been the subject of two police prosecutions.

A report in 2002 said Mr Messham was charged with stealing nearly £30,000 from a support group he set up , Norwas, the North Wales Abuse Survivors . He was also accused of deception and false accounting totalling another £34,000.

Three years later he was acquitted of all charges but the BBC makes no reference to this on its website, an omission Mr Messham now wants corrected. Another news website report said he was cleared of benefit fraud charges at Chester Crown Court. Last year a local newspaper reported Mr Messham had been fined £250 with £515 costs for breaching a noise abatement notice to keep his dog Spook, a Japanese Akita, quiet.

Mr Messham was quite happy to talk to the Sunday Express about his brushes with the law . A key ­question for the internal inquiry will certainly be if the journalists carried out basic routine checks on Mr Messham and, if so, should the report have mentioned his court appearances.

Mr Messham said he hoped to meet Lord McAlpine to apologise personally. He told the Sunday Express: “When I saw a picture of Lord McAlpine for the first time on Friday, I was mortified. I got straight on the phone and phoned the BBC, NCA [National Crime Agency], my lawyers and told them it wasn’t the right man. I’m not having someone prosecuted who does not deserve it.

“He certainly did not abuse me and although I did not name him on the programme, I still offer my sincere apologies because it’s so wrong.”

Describing the moment it dawned on him the wrong man had been implicated in the scandal, he said: “I was on the computer and was about to click off when I saw a photograph of Lord McAlpine on a news site. I thought, ‘That’s not the man’ so that’s why I did what I did straight away because it was the right thing to do.” The crisis sparked renewed assaults on the BBC from MPs ­yesterday. Culture Secretary Maria Miller said: “I have been clear the BBC Trust needs to get to the ­bottom, and quickly, of what has gone wrong at the Corporation.”

Labour deputy leader and shadow culture secretary Harriet Harman said it was clear something had gone “badly wrong” at Newsnight. Tory MP John Whittingdale, chairman of the culture media and sport committee, said: “ This was the most serious allegation that could be made against an individual and it was broadcast without proper checks being made.

“It was on evidence from somebody who hadn’t even seen a photograph. How did the lawyers let this through? ”

Asked if Entwistle had shown a lack of judgment, Mr Whittingdale added: “Of course. After the problems Newsnight had with Jimmy Savile, you would have thought the whole of the BBC would have been alert to the fact that they needed to be absolutely sure they don’t make any more blunders.

“Yet for this programme, which seems to have been put together ­rapidly, some say in order to prove Newsnight’s credibility, to be broadcast without being ­absolutely sure they had the evidence to support these incredibly serious allegations is just extraordinary.

“There’s been a failure of management at every level but at the end of the day the director general of the BBC is the editor in chief and he has to bear responsibility. ”

Tory MP Rob Wilson said the Newsnight report on care home abuse had “resulted in an innocent man being labelled as a paedophile”.

Mr Wilson added: “ I think George Entwistle does have questions to answer himself. He really has to show that he has the leadership skills to lead the BBC into the future... a reformed BBC I think it will be.

“Is he the man to turn the corporation around?”

Star presenters vented their feelings on Twitter. Radio 2’s Jeremy Vine said: “In defence of Newsnight, the chain of disasters since their Messham film may demonstrate why they never ran the piece on Savile.”

Jonathan Dimbleby tweeted: “Only upside of new Newsnight disgrace is that editor’s decision to drop Savile report may seem wise caution not cowardice.”

The Bureau of Investigative ­Journalism, which was named as a contributor to the programme, said it would be meeting Newsnight editor Iain Overton.

Chairman James Lee said: “The trustees are appalled at what appears to be a breach of its standards. To the extent the principles of the Bureau have been ignored by involvement in this story, action will be taken against those responsible.”

OPINION: PAGE 36

Comments Unavailable

Sorry, we are unable to accept comments about this article
at the moment. However, you will find some great articles
which you can comment on right now in our
Comment section.